Opus 2019-133: On the Street: Quality Checks

There are a fair number of people who don’t like to buy things on line.  I am one of them.  I like to see and feel what I am buying.  I know that many on-line businesses have great return policies but if I can hold something I don’t need to mail it back, just put it on the shelf. 

One of the reasons I would rather buy in person is because I agree with the idea of buying locally and supporting the people who pay taxes where we live.  It isn’t always possible.  I don’t know how many times I have wanted a specific item but could find no place locally that carried it.  I understand how hard it is to keep a large inventory.

So I wanted to buy some dry boxes for ammunition.  I knew what I wanted and had an idea of what was available so I checked out the local stores, on line of course.  I found that a sporting goods chain called Academy Sports had what I wanted so I went shopping in person.  I had the cash.  I knew what I wanted.  I was ready to buy.  To sweeten the deal I was handed a coupon when I went in the store that made them more than competitive with Amazon.  I wanted four boxes and when I got to the shelf there were four of what I wanted.  Sweet.

Or not.

I opened the first one and took a quick look.  It looked good to go.  The second one had the hinge pin half way out and would not work properly.  The third one had half the hinge pulled out and the rim bent.  The fourth was the same.  I looked at the first again and saw that the hinge on it was bad too. 

I went home, ordered from Amazon and had them in two days.  They were in perfect shape.

I tried, but if they want my business the local stores are going to have to step up to the plate and do their part.  I don’t live in a socialist country, at least not yet.  If they can’t get their act together the competition will eat their shorts.

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-132: Nothing But

It does not bother me that AOC was “nothing” but a bartender until she was elected to congress.  There is nothing wrong with working jobs that do not require a college education.  The problem with her is that she didn’t seem to learn anything important or accurate at college or behind the bar.  I guess the wise-counselor bartender is as much of a reality as the idea that a college degree means something.  I don’t know any bartenders but I know a lot of people with college degrees and so I can testify to at least half of that.

We tend to have an ignored arrogance about people who work with their hands for a living.  You have heard people confess they were “just a truck driver” or “only an insurance salesman” as if that was a lowly past-time.  We act like we don’t but how many people brag about their child being a plumber as compared to the child who is a doctor?  I am guessing that more people would die from disease caused by poor plumbing than can be healed by poor doctoring.  I think this is a common error in thinking.

So lay off the working stiffs of the world.  Where would us old people be without the kid who has a part time job and helps us carry our groceries to the car?  They are more of a blessing than the CPA who can’t get your taxes done right. 

AOC has become a laughing stock for thinking people because she is a dangerous combination of naive and ignorant, not because she was a bartender.

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-131: Spam Bots in Vulture Mode

Being out of the loop did interesting things to my page views.  I don’t get into all the different nuances of telling how many people visit my site.  I check what Google gives me in the stats every once in awhile but what I saw today just reinforces how meaningless it is.

I wondered how not publishing for a week would effect the numbers.  Would it be lower because people stopped reading or higher because they kept checking to see if I was back in business?  What happened seems to be that the bots thought they had discovered a site gone defunct and they went crazy.  My page views for July went off the charts.  It was like a teen age block party with free booze. 

The lesson to learn is not to get too egotistical about this blogging thing.  I have already accepted that I will not get a call from NPR to replace the Prairie Home Companion nor will the L.A. Times contact me about a column.  Maybe if I stick with it I will be banned by blogger for my insensitive posts.

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-130: Time to Raise the Curtain

I guess it is time to get my nose back on the grindstone.  I had what is called a “trigger finger”.  If I made a fist with five fingers only four of them would open.  It makes it rough for shaking hands.  The treatment is routine minor surgery but it puts your hand in a useless state for a time.  I am at the point where I can pick up a piece of paper if I am careful and type if I keep proof-reading but it will be weeks before I can pick up a hammer or push a lawn mower.

It is amazing the actions that demand two hands.

Opening cans
Buttoning pants
Tying shoes
Washing the opposing arm pit
Touch typing
Cut a steak

Then there are tasks that can be done if you are very careful.

Blowing your nose
Putting tooth paste on a brush
Putting on sox
Making non-instant coffee
Eat a good hamburger

I told the doctor if this were a hundred years ago I would just work around the weird finger but it isn’t 1919 so let the cutting begin.

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-129: Hiatus

Hand surgery.  It will be a few days.

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-128: Weather I’m Right, or Weather I’m Wrong

As the current hurricane, I believe it is called Barry, plays itself out in the gulf, a word of reminder might be in order.  If you are into watching the weather on TV you need to keep in mind that even the weather can be Fake News.  We forget that the programs we watch are not really there to inform and educate.  Like public schools, the broadcasters are there to generate revenue to pay their salaries and indoctrinate to their own position.

The weather man is probably not hired because he is a highly trained, professional meteorologist.  He is hired because he can hold your attention until the next advertisement comes on and get you to tell your friends the exciting things you heard on their channel.  If the weather man is a sexy babe then you can add “sex sells” to the mix.  Their job is to take some dry data and make it into a remake of Gone with the Wind crossed with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. 

All the data I could pick up said our current hurricane was a minor issue.  I am sure that if you were at the wrong place at the wrong time with no awareness you could have some problems but for those of us 600 miles away in the opposite direction it is not time to buy extra water and put up the storm shutters.  We were in Texas for Hurricane Harvey.  It swamped Houston and caused a lot of havoc on the Gulf coast.  Where we live we got some robust winds and heavy rains. 

I remember being in California when we had some serious rain and a few mud slides.  My mother in law called from out of state to see if we were still alive.  Seriously.  She was worried that we had been overcome with mud slides when we lived on the top of a rise.  Such is Fake News Weather.

As President Reagan said about a more serious issue, “Trust, but verify.”  If the bouncy babe on the news tells you it is raining the least you can do is look out the window.

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-127: On the Street: Fooling Only Yourself

I was a witness to attempted deception yesterday.  I think it is called a “comb-over”.  It has been awhile since I have noticed one.  If you have never seen it count yourself lucky.  A comb-over is when a guy who is bald on top lets the hair grow long on one side and combs it over the top of his head to try and cover up the baldness. 

I don’t know why people bother.  It is futile.  It looks worse than just accepting the shiny pate.  I am not sure why being bald is such a big deal.  The only problem I have with it is dealing with the shine in my eyes when I am looking in a mirror and the light reflects.  It is who I am and has nothing to do with my value as a human being.

Of course I feel the same way about dying my hair and jewelry.  I don’t understand the concepts.  I think of it as being like the ancient Chinese tradition of binding the feet of upper class women to keep them small.

So guys, if you have lost your hair embrace the reality.  At the same time I am willing to let the ladies wear wigs if they choose.

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-126: New Laws: Minority Opinion

What minority groups am I a part of?

The list is as long as I want to make it.  I would start with being a serious Christian.  I am not sure what kind of label to use for that because all of them have their baggage, but that gives you an idea.  From there I can proceed down a long list to being someone with big feet.

We all face discrimination of one sort or another.  Let me take the most ridiculous example, big feet, and give extreme applications to make my point.  People with big feet cannot go out and buy shoes at just any shoe store.  You normal people can probably walk in, look at the display on the wall, make a choice and take it home.  I have never been able to do that.  When I was young and my feet were smaller, my parents had little money.  By the time I was in Junior High I was in a size 14 and in those days all that got you were guffaws. 

This is serious.  I saw a kid wearing iridescent, lime green kicks the other day.  I wanted some.  My first pair of the current style athletic shoes were bright orange Nikes.  I found them at an outlet mall for $10.  It was awesome.  Since then I have found some glowing yellow Under Armors and I have a pair of red New Balance.  Lime green I have not been able to find.  It makes me feel less of a human being and a victim of small feet privilege.  It isn’t fair.  I demand justice.

I cannot sit comfortably in restaurant booths.  Have you ever tried to move a pair of size 17's past the pole holding up the table?  Have you ever tried to keep you toes from being stepped on?  If you have not then you don’t know the daily trauma that I must live with. 

I cannot participate in fun activities such as roller skating or skiing.  They require special shoes and most people just walk up and state their size.  They get skates.  I get giggles.  I am excluded from my rightful place in society.

Now picture how our world would change if my “rights” were guaranteed by legislation.  Every manufacturer would be forced to make every style in all sizes.  Every store would be required to carry them in stock.  Either shoes would get too expensive for anyone or the shoe business would curl up and die, leaving people bare footed.  I guess another choice would to only have one style of shoe so they would have room in the back for all sizes.

Ridiculous?  Of course.  But it would be fair.  It would make me feel safe and avoid any hint of discrimination.  Multiply that by the accommodations that would need to be made for every variance in the human condition.  Life is not fair.  Deal with it.

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-125: Asking the Simple Questions

When I was teaching, one of the highlights of the beginning of the year was the number of teachers who would ask for help because their computer was not working.  I took great joy in asking, “Is it plugged in?”  From the look on the face you could tell they had not thought of that.  Usually I would hear no more. 

One time my wife spent a few hours waiting for the AAA man to show up.  She would not let me try to figure out why the car would not start.  As soon as he got there and climbed into the car he said, “I can tell you why it won’t start.”  Evidently it was not in park.

It is always a good to ask the simple questions first.

When the two stroke engine on my string edger would not start I tried everything.  I used the choke.  I let it sit and tried it again.  Nothing was happening.  I walked away.  The next day I was ready to try again and the first thing I noticed was the kill switch said, “Stop”.  I am glad no one was near by to hear my opinions about my native intelligence.  I moved the switch and it started right up.

If only all of life’s problems were so simple.

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-124: The Calculated Risk

Progressives are taking a calculated risk.  They are pushing the traditional Americas as hard as they can and hoping that they can get us to the point of impotence before we wake up and get angry. 

They have good reason to be optimistic.  Turn your inner clock back twenty years and ask yourself if you would have accepted men claiming to be women competing in girls wrestling.  Would you have accepted what we now call “social media” blatantly censoring the speech of anyone who criticizes a liberal position?  They keep pushing.  We keep backing down.

What happens if they push too hard and too fast?  What happens when the man on the street decides that he has had enough?  What happens when he realizes that his children are threatened.  What happens when someone runs out of cheeks to turn?  Antifa will find themselves met by armed gangs who also have lost their respect for reasoned discourse.  Obstructive and arrogant clerks in government agencies may find out what “going postal” means when it is “going DMV” or “going city hall”.  What happens when the left bets on an inside straight and the latent wolf on the other side of the table sees the card being slipped out of the sleeve? 

I hope it doesn’t come to that because if things blow up then we all lose. 

Two things can avert the coming explosion.  The first and best is if the left would have a “come to Jesus” moment and decide that working in the system honestly is what they should be doing.  Wouldn’t it be great if word went out from the DNC that a lot of judges needed to be putting in for retirement or there would be impeachment proceedings in the near future and they would not be for the president?  I wonder what would happen if the IRS would start admitting that the tax-payers are their employers.  What if congress stopped exempting themselves from their own oppressive laws.  It would be great, but don’t hold your breath.  Oxygen deprived blue does not go well with your favorite colors.

The second solution would be if traditional Americans would simply stop going along to get along.  Investigate voter fraud and put some people in jail.  Look into treason and apply the death penalty as granted by the Constitution.  Find out where members of congress get all that money to buy those palaces.  When the fascist goons of the left riot in the streets demand that the police respond according to the law.  Apply the law.  Demand it by paying attention, voting with our principles and hounding people out of office.  It is most effective to start with the local city council and elected sheriff. 

When we know they are bluffing we don’t need to turn over the table and start shooting like it was an Italian western.  We need to see their bid and call.

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-123: New Terms: Minority Groups

I know that this is not really a new term but the left, as they have done in so many areas, is trying to re-vocabulary us by redefining how we understand words.  As I was editing the previous post I noticed I used the following sentence,

“We have a constitution that protects the minority groups instead of allowing the mindless to be manipulated.”

It occurred to me that many people have been brainwashed in their understanding of important historical ideas.  The Founders were concerned about “minority groups” but their minds had not been put into little boxes that associated “minority” with skin color. 

A “minority group” was any common grouping that was not in the majority.  It was something that usually had a political or religious implication.  Thus the Quakers were a minority group and their religious convictions as pacifists was recognized.  In current times we recognized the right of Jehovah’s Witnesses to refuse blood transfusions based on their religion.  Currently we are watching to see if the Little Sisters of the Poor, an order of Roman Catholic nuns, will be forced to accept abortion because the government says so.  Keep in mind that what happens to them will someday happen to you.

So grow up and put your mind back in gear.  The truth about “minority groups” is that we are all a part of them.  To paraphrase the famous Pogo insight, “I have met the minority and it is us.”  In some area of our life we are in a minority.  The reason the Founders put the Constitution together the way they did was not for majority rule but to keep the majority from trampling on the minorities.  That is why we have the checks and balances of our three branch government.  That is why we have a federal system.  That is why we have an electoral college.  Mess with them at your own risk.

If you have no area of your life that you stand in the minority, you have my sympathy.  It must really be boring to be you.

Opus 2019-122: Election 2020: Voting Requirements

We have another election coming up.  The Democrats have a sizable contingent of contestants and on the Republican side President Trump has announced he is running.  Based on how close the last several elections have been and the accusations of voter fraud and suppression, the question of who votes and what the qualifications are is a real issue. 

The Constitution and Amendments give the basic outline of whom should be allowed to vote.  Citizenship is required and you need to be at least 18 years of age.  It used to be necessary to be registered and a resident where you voted.  The Democrats are moving to do away with all of these remaining restrictions. 

One of the lies perpetuated by the America hating left is that the Founders wrote the constitution to serve only the rich and property owners.  While owning property was considered during the debates it was rejected.  Property ownership or minimum worth were requirements in England but the new American experiment did away with them.  There is nothing in the Constitution about owning property to be a voter.  Period.  It is not there.

Some states did have property or income requirements but  they were greatly reduced as the thinking of the Revolution made its way into society at large.  I find myself in sympathy toward limiting the right to vote.  I find that most people have no idea what they are voting on or how their elected officials vote.  I don’t know how many conversations I have had with black Americans on the different issues in campaigns.  Usually they would agree with Ronald Reagan on individual issues but still vote a straight Democrat ticket.  Would I limit the right to vote based on race?  No, but if it were possible to weed out those who are not paying attention without abusing the process, I would go for it.

Why?  The Founding Fathers knew the dangers of having a limited buy-in to society.  This is a quote from John Adams from Vindicating the Founders,

“Such is the frailty of the human heart, that very few men who have no property, have any judgment of their own.  They talk and vote as they are directed by some man of property, who has attached their minds to his interest....[M]en who are wholly destitute of property... [are] to all intents and purposed as much dependent upon others, who will please to feed, clothe, and employ them, as women are upon their husbands, or children upon their parents.”

This explains why all major cities are Democrat strongholds.  The majority of people in them are living off of government handouts or work for the government.  They know which side their butter is on and who gets milked to supply it.

And again, we make the mistake of using “democracy” instead of “republic”.  We are not, nor have we ever been a democracy.  The Founders did not trust the masses enough to have a democracy.  We have a constitution that protects the minority groups instead of allowing the mindless to be manipulated.  Enjoy what is left of your liberty while you still can.

West, Thomas G.  Vindicating the Founders.  Lanham, Maryland: Rowman &
     Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 1997, page 122.

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-121: The Revised, Revised Abigail Adams

The history books that I used to work through in teaching middle school were constantly being revised.  There were two goals of the revision.  One was to dumb them down so that the kids could read them.  The second was to meet the latest revisionist demands of social justice warriors.  One of the requirements was to have a quota of minorities and women.  One of the women that was often referred to was Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, second president of the United States.

I had no problem with her.  I had read biographies of her husband and knew that they had a very close and loving relationship.  The thing that set my pot to boiling was having her portrayed as an early feminist.  She was supposed to have been a rabid advocate of women’s rights but her concern was not power like modern feminism.  She was really all about fair treatment.  I am sure that she had some things to say but I doubt if she would have been happy about the portrayal. 

I came across a quote in Vindicating the Founders.  The author was trying to give a more accurate description of what the early Americans thought.  On page 94 the author offers the following quote from Abigail Adams,

 “Well ordered home is my chief delight, and the affectionate domestic wife with the relative duties which accompany that character my highest ambition.”

She was writing to her husband on June 20 1783 according to the footnotes.  Somehow that does not seem to fit the stereotypes that are being pushed in our modern culture.  Be careful what you read and hear.  Be double careful if it comes from a teacher or a text book.  Fake News is bigger than today’s headlines.

West, Thomas G.  Vindicating the Founders.  Lanham, Maryland: Rowman &
     Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 1997.

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-120: Another Hurdle Overcome

Now that it is over I can relax. 

Did you notice during the Independence Day celebration that at one point the president was joined by the vice president and many cabinet members?  Every time I see that I think of what a target they represent for the group that we are calling the “deep state”.  It makes me nervous because, if I remember correctly, the next in line if something happens to the president and vice president is the speaker of the House.  Today that would mean Nancy Pelosi.

With all of their talk of violence and not-so-subtle references to assassination, I would not put it past the left to come up with some scheme that would put them in power.  They hate Donald Trump that much.  I think he is aware of that or at least his advisors are.  I have never noticed the big screen in front of him before.  Maybe it was the rain that made it obvious but I am glad it was there.

The hatred of the left is one reason so many Americans support him, pray for him and are encouraged by him.  Unlike the left, he loves America and is going whole hog to make it great again.

Thanks to all Americans, and citizens of other countries, who are praying for his safety.

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-119: Baby Talk: The New Green Deal

You are all familiar with AOC.  She is the one who brought up the New Green Deal and made an issue of farting cows.  I have noticed that the environmental folks have never thanked the American pioneers who got rid of the massive buffalo herds.  Just think of all the methane gas they were producing.  Maybe we should also do something about the large congregations of wild animals on the African game preserves.

But I digress.

My real concern is the precedent of making an issue of escaping gas.  I worry because I have a granddaughter who often announces her presence by the release of potent methane gas.  Baby gas can really be a show stopper.  Can you see the day when our government, in an effort to keep us save and secure, insists that babies never go out in public without air-tight diapers and that the homes of all new born children install those things they have in science labs that gives a negative pressure to keep killer microbes from escaping.

This of course will demand a cabinet position, Secretary of Baby Farts, and a large budget with regulations to match.

Don’t you love the AOC future?

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-118: Why Not Firworks

You may have noticed that more and more locations are making it illegal to shoot off your own fireworks.  It is illegal to sell them in many places.  It always amused me to see a fireworks stand right across the city limits from a no-fireworks domain.

I understand the stated logic of banning them.  First you want to keep your houses from burning down.  That makes sense.  People sleeping under a roof covered with old wooden shingles might not appreciate a still burning rocket landing on them unannounced.  Dry shakes do not mix well with sparks.  I am not sure that is a reason to ban all fireworks but city councils love to flex their muscles.  I wish citizens realized how easy it is to vote out a city council.  It is the way a democratic form of government is supposed to work.  If you don’t like them, vote them out.

Second, Aunt Nanny wants to keep her children safe.  Start a list of things the government does to protect you starting with mandatory seat belts, bicycle helmets, medicine bottles with safety caps and proceed to smoking in public and nutritional content labels.  The list goes on and on.  What we fail to see is that each law that is passed for out safety also limits our freedom.  It is sometimes limited by banning what used to be common practice such as fire works.  Other times it reduces our freedom by limiting our choices.  That is what government required licensing for things like barbers and eyebrow weavers do.  By limiting competition they also increase the cost of living.  That is both by limiting competition and raising prices because the business now has to pay a fee for the permit.  But they only do it because they want us safe.

But there is also a hidden reason for banning fireworks.  Exciting displays encourage people to be involved in celebrating their liberty.  It might even get people to think about the words of the national anthem.  The Progressives in charge of education, the media and government want us to sit down and be obedient, not blow things up and get excited about being free.  If you can make things boring enough, people will lose interest.  We have seen this in education.  When the feminists succeeded in making books boring and non-violent, boys have been dropping out of reading.  When colleges require freshmen to get in touch with their feelings in special tolerance classes we see fewer young men interested in a college education.

The recent celebration that President Trump led in Washington got a lot of people stirred up.  Some were stirred with patriotism and love for their country.  You could see that when the cameras were forced to turn around and see the solid mass of people all the way to the Washington Monument.  No, they were not photo-shopped in.  Others were stirred in horror at the fact that there are still people proud to be Americans.

I am for more fireworks.  I am for freedom.  Keep in mind that limiting immigration does not mean limiting emigration.  If you don’t know the difference, the first is what illegals do and the second is what liberals promise to do every election.  Maybe if we shoot off enough fire crackers some will keep their word and move to Canda.

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-117: Why Fireworks

One of the big attractions of the 4th of July celebration is the fireworks.  We like to see things go boom.  Sparklers are fun but what really gets little boys excited it lighting a firecracker and throwing it before it blows up in their hand.  It gets big boys excited too.  I can’t speak for girls.  One year recently my son and son in law bought a bunch of stuff that would have gotten them arrested in California and we enjoyed the sight of them running as fast as they could from the fuses they had just lit.

It also gives people a chance to think about the national anthem.  Many of us have sung the song.  Few of us have considered the words.  Francis Scott Key was a prisoner on a British warship.  During the night the British fleet had been attacking Fort McHenry with naval artillery and rockets.  As morning was approaching he was wondering if the fort was going to surrender.  They would signal this by lowering the flag.  Thus he expressed his joy,

Oh, say, can you see? By the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming;
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming.

The flag was up when twilight descended.  It was still there in the dawn.  The sun was coming but it was still dark enough to see the rockets blowing up in the air.

And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air.
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there:...

What we might consider fireworks were the cutting edge of military technology in the 19th century.  The British were experimenting with rockets instead of cannon.  It made a lot of noise and bursts of light.  The big problem was hitting the target.

Americans shoot off fireworks on Independence Day to commemorate that day in the war of 1812.  They may not know it, but that is what they are doing.  I am not informed enough to declare that no one used rockets and bomblets to celebrate before Americans but I do believe that it has become a distinctively American thing to do.  From our front porch we picked out at least five different locations that were paying the big bucks to light up the sky.  We were happy that millions of Americans were doing the same in their back yards and streets.

I hope you enjoyed the day.

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-116: A Good Read

    IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

    A DECLARATION

    By the REPRESENTATIVES of the

    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

    In GENERAL CONGRESS assembled

When in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.

We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness-That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.  Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient Causes; and accordingly all Experience hath shewn, that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they are accustomed.  But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security.  Such has been the patient Sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the Necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.  The History of the present King of Great-Britain is a History of repeated Injuries and Usurpations, all having in direct Object the Establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.  To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid World.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public Good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing Importance, unless suspended in their Operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the Accommodation of large Districts of People, unless those People would relinquish the Right of Representation in the Legislature, a Right inestimable to them, and formidable to Tyrants only.

He has called together Legislative Bodies at Places unusual, uncomfortable , and distant from the Depository of their Public Records, for the sole Purpose of fatiguing them into Compliance with his Measures.

 He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly Firmness his Invasions on the Rights of the People.

He has refused for a long Time, after such Dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the Dangers of Invasion from without, and Convulsions within.

He has endeavored to prevent the Population of these States; for that Purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their Migrations hither, and raising the Conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the Tenure of their Offices, and the Amount and payment of their Salaries.

He has erected a Multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harass our People, and eat out their Substance.

He has kept among us, in Times of Peace, Standing Armies, without the consent of our Legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of, and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a Jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by out Laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large Bodies of Armed Troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For Cutting off our Trade with all Parts of the World:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us, in many Cases, of the Benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended Offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighboring Province, establishing therein an arbitrary Government, and enlarging its Boundaries, so as to render it at once an Example and fit Instrument for introducing the same absolute Rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with Power to legislate for us in all Cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our Seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the Lives of our People.

He is, at this Time, transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to complete the works of Death, Desolation, and Tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and Perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous Ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized Nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the Executioners of their Friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic Insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the Inhabitants of our Frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known Rule of Warfare, is an undistinguished Destruction, of all Ages, Sexes and Conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions we have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble Terms:  Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated Injury.  A Prince, whose Character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the Ruler of a free People.

Nor have we been wanting in Attentions to our British Brethren.  We have warned them from Time to Time of Attempts by their Legislature to extend an unwarrantable Jurisdiction over us.  We have reminded them of the Circumstances of our Emigration and Settlement here.  We have appealed to their native Justice and Magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the Ties of our common Kindred to disavow these Usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our Connections and Correspondence.  They too have been deaf to the Voice of Justice and of Consanguinity.  We must, therefore, acquiesce in the Necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of Mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace, Friends.

 We, therefore, the Representatives of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly Publish and Declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, Free and Independent States; that they are absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political Connection between them and the State of Great-Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do.  And for the support of this declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

JOHN HANCOCK, President

Attest.
CHARLES THOMSON, Secretary.

SIGNERS

Adams, John                     MA      Lawyer
Adams, Samuel                   MA      Political leader
Bartlett, Josiah                NH      Physician, Judge
Braxton, Carter                 VA      Farmer
Carroll, Charles of Carrollton  MD      Lawyer
Chase, Samuel                   MD      Judge
Clark, Abraham                  NJ      Surveyor
Clymer, George                  PA      Merchant
Ellery, William                 RI      Lawyer
Floyd, William                  NY      Soldier
Franklin, Benjamin              PA      Printer, Publisher
Gerry, Elbridge                 MA      Merchant
Gwinnett, Button                GA      Merchant
Hall, Lyman                     GA      Physician
Hancock, John                   MA      Merchant
Harrison, Benjamin              VA      Farmer
Hart, John                      NJ      Farmer
Hewes, Joseph                   NC      Merchant
Heyward, Thomas Jr.             SC      Lawyer, Farmer
Hooper, William                 NC      Lawyer
Hopkins, Stephen                RI      Judge, Educator
Hopkinson, Francis              NJ      Judge, Author
Huntington, Samuel              CT      Judge
Jefferson, Thomas               VA      Lawyer
Lee, Francis Lightfoot          VA      Farmer
Lee, Richard Henry              VA      Farmer
Lewis, Francis                  NY      Merchant
Livingston, Philip              NY      Merchant
Lynch, Thomas Jr.               SC      Farmer
McKean, Thomas                  DE      Lawyer
Middleton, Arthur               SC      Farmer
Morris, Lewis                   NY      Farmer
Morris, Robert                  PA      Merchant
Morton, John                    PA      Judge
Nelson, Thomas Jr.              VA      Farmer
Paca, William                   MD      Judge
Paine, Robert Treat             MA      Judge
Penn, John                      NC      Lawyer
Read, George                    DE      Judge
Rodney, Caesar                  DE      Judge
Ross, George                    PA      Judge
Rush, Benjamin                  PA      Physician
Rutledge, Edward                SC      Lawyer
Sherman, Roger                  CT      Lawyer
Smith, James                    PA      Lawyer
Stockton, Richard               NJ      Lawyer
Stone, Thomas                   MD      Lawyer
Taylor, George                  PA      Ironmaster
Thornton, Matthew               NH      Physician
Walter, George                  GA      Judge
Whipple, William                NH      Merchant, Judge
Williams, William               CT      Merchant
Wilson, James                   PA      Judge
Witherspoon, John               NJ      Educator
Wolcott, Oliver                 CT      Judge
Wythe, George                   VA      Lawyer

Opus 2019-115: A Good Question

Why do we celebrate the 4th of July?  I know that seems a stupid question but have you been listening to the people elected to congress in the last session?  July 4, 1776 is the date inscribed on the Declaration of Independence.  Because of that we call this Independence Day and even though the Progressive elites are doing all they can to limit our liberty, we still have a lot to celebrate.  I urge you to stop and read the Declaration.

It starts,

    When in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.

and goes on from there.  I will post the document in a separate post.  I urge you to read the entire thing today.  You might even try a little exercise I had my middle school students do:  Paraphrase the paragraph without using any of the key words.  For instance, “When in the Course of human Events” could become, “all through history”.

We still have much to celebrate and be thankful for.

homo unius libri